Mode of Living
by Mugen7
Summary: Better to bend, if only a little, than to break and lose what good you have. [Blue Compendium].


_**BB Randoms #004**_

* * *

**Kagura:** Hey, pretty lady~, lookin' so fi~ne

I gotta tell you, girl, that you're blowin' my mi~nd

Heaven must've known I've been waitin' so long

And I wanna tell you now that you got it goin' o~n

**Bang:** U~ blow my mind, baby

I'm~ so in love with you, baby

U~ blow my mind, baby

I'm~ so in love, baby

* * *

– _**ref: Blackstreet, U Blow My Mind**_**.**

* * *

**Mode of Living**

**Written by Mugen7**

* * *

From time to time (if not _all_ the damn time), dealing with Kokonoe was like dealing with a child, who in particular would eat anything; chocolate, sweets, ice cream, a bag of chips, common foods that fell under the umbrella of "junk". What she refused to eat, however, were the foods essential to the body, namely _fruit_. She wasn't a big fan, once upon a time maybe, but not now. Desserts (or comfort foods) such as apple pie, the half-breed could easily handle, but any one of your 5-a-day in its most ripe or rawest form? Big "no-no!"; made her feel sick. Now why the emphasis on fruit? Well, our crabby scientist had come down with a severe case of strep throat associated with fever. Kokonoe never paid much mind to her own health, in spite of how pale and delicate her structure was, but on the off chance she happened to feel unwell, then her preferred (and literally _only_) means of getting over any symptom was to simply just... _sleep it off_.

Sadly for her, that option was no longer practical.

"Professor, this isn't acceptable!" Litchi admonished, finding out her former mentor and "friend" had been cooped up in her office for the better part of a day looking flushed, sweating, shivering, blanketed in thermals with the thermostat on high, and, as per usual, consuming sweets.

"I'm a grown woman..." Kokonoe wilfully countered, sending the medic a look of disapproval for taking her coffee away. "I've dealt with being unwell before and I can do so again. Now go on... get." Then she collapsed, bringing her chair along for the ride.

Litchi sighed, "Silly woman."

After ten days of penicillin, herbal medicine, and fiery indignation from the good doctor in a rare moment of getting "carried away" thanks to the hybrid getting smart with a level of impudence only befitting of her, Kokonoe was back to normal. Kinda.

"Hurry up and make it quick. I've got shit to do." Said the hybrid, scrolling and tapping away on an app in her phone.

Litchi was exceedingly impressed and perplexed by how regular her cholesterol was.

"I'm not sure how any of this is possible... but it's a good sign nonetheless. Although your potassium is very low," the woman apprised, evident by Kokonoe's difficulty in breathing and irregular heartbeat, which, while improved, remained prevalent. And with the terribly pre-existing sleep pattern and regular fatigue, the pink-haired researcher wasn't making life any easier on herself. "So eat a banana every once in a while." She advised, setting down the named fruit itself.

"No thanks."

A vein in the temple throbbed. "For goodness' sake."

Naturally Kokonoe was opposed to the suggestion, making up all manner of excuses, in which Litchi, once again losing it, called the hybrid a –

"Fucking idiot...!"

Staggered by the woman's vulgar language, Kokonoe gave Litchi the stink eye. "What was that?"

"Honestly, your negligence can be _so_...!" the Asian caught herself. She took a deep breath, exhaled, and, more or less, found her special place. "You're not alone anymore, Professor. None of us wish to see you 'go' anytime soon."

Kokonoe's eyebrow rose. "Is there a point to this?"

Steadyyyyyy.

"So every three days, think about Ragna, Lambda, Tager, Chou–"

"Are you done?"

"MYSELF!" Litchi's hands slammed down hard on the armrests of the cat-woman's chair, her explosive outrage nearly making hybrid jump out of her own skin. "Think about all of us and eat. A damn. Banana!"

Kokonoe was confined to her seat, rigid, and forced to stare into an inflamed, woeful pair of fuchsia.

"Do I. _Make_. Myself clear?" The Asian queried before leaving, her smile and aura deceptively cordial.

Once out of the woods, Kokonoe expired a hefty breath.

_When the hell did she get so vicious...!? _Slowly, she eased up, and alone, she sat idle, deafened by hard silence, her cat eyes sporadically pacing over the cold and dark tones of grey and steel blue in her workroom.

She reclined, the numbness in her mind abated, and started to think. If Litchi hadn't brought attention to the "insufferable loud-mouthed mutt", then the scientist would've agreed the woman had made a compelling case. Regardless, the point made had been strikingly clear, and Kokonoe knew well enough her present modus vivendi wasn't satisfactory and needed revising toot sweet. Not taking proper care of her invariably "weak body" over the years had taken its toll, so much so that she had resorted to using her addiction as a crutch to help stay active and effectively abuse her own limitations. While not irreparable, she knew that if she continued to tread along the couldn't-care-less way of living, then her next "fall" could very well be her last.

"I guess it can't helped," she let out a small sigh, pressing more of her weight onto the backrest of her seat. "What a pain."

She might've gotten away with putting her health on the backburner for as long as she had, but the hybrid couldn't keep relying on genetics to solve most of her problems. Beastmen may hold the advantage in the way of not "cracking" early, but like anyone genetically predisposed to not show age in their later years, shitty choices _would bear_ shitty results. The short straw had already been drawn for her from birth when it came to her body; it'd be foolish to have another drawn.

"Hmm," her head fell to one side. Eyeing a dark corner of the ceiling, she began to ruminate.

Ragna and her... Honestly it amazed the pink-haired woman that they'd stuck to one another for so long. They were both a pair of gruff, stubborn individuals who clashed a fair bit and marched to the beat of their own drums. Yet it was never a dull moment. The pair had a unique sort of chemistry going on amongst themselves, and whenever she happened to be off the clock and chose to break away from the premises (little as that was), the bad boy, inadvertently, provided a relaxing kind of refuge for her.

"Plus it's not like I keep him around for his brains."

Though silent and somewhat green still, Lambda was adorable and... fresh. Kokonoe believed she was patient enough of a person as is, but sometimes hot-headedness would rear its ugly head and she'd proceed to flip her shit when miffed. Being around the ruby-eyed girl was similar to being around her aunt; like taking in a breath of the wilds which had a long-lasting effect. Lambda's calm essence functioned as a reminder that she needed to make _actual _time for herself outside of work and take a load off; kick back and just... _chill_.

"A true-blue pacifier," only less talkative and easier to manage, unlike the troublesome brunette.

Then there was the big man himself.

"Hmm. Pretty sure I got a missed call from him," she guessed, checking her phone.

"... Make that a few."

While it seemed she didn't give a damn, Kokonoe appreciated everything the robust giant had done for her over the years as fellow workers. Problems rarely arose between them, and whatever differences they had, they were soundly worked through.

"Pays to have someone reasonable around."

Tager was someone in her life who she could let her hair down around; have fun and reminisce over the "good old times", with her on occasion getting unusually sentimental. He was, perhaps, if not _the_ closest the cat-woman had to a "best friend", "brother", even (although she's pretty certain sisters don't have their brothers bend over to have their asses whipped while the sisters themselves cackled like mad women).

"It's not like I give it to him often."

Next,

_"Arf!"_

"Hurrrrhmm, mother of God..."

was Chou...

Chou was Chou. Always full of beans.

"And an annoying shit," Kokonoe griped, picturing the large dog peering up at her with their tail wagging and barking happily. Then licking her face, biting her tails in a "playful" way, and body slamming her when she happened to make an appearance, and licking her face _some more_...! Nothing to like about the fluffy canine.

_"Arf, arf!"_

_Absolutely_. _Nothing_.

_"Aroo!"_

"... I suppose I can find a use for them." She considered, cracking a whip.

As for Litchi. Well, in Kokonoe's mind, the busty medic was,

"A foolish and relentless woman who's incredibly moody, sensitive and so _easily_ hurt that she may as well play the martyr, and her stubbornness is stupidly herculean that it's no wonder she can't let anything go," she glowered, putting a hand over face. "She's a sleaze, a perv, a shameless drunk, and... and..." And Kokonoe could see precisely why people gravitated towards her; why the medic was genuinely well-liked by all in her community. She was tender, serene, selfless, and a maternal nurturer and loyal figure of admiration who loved unconditionally and upheld a great deal of zeal and security for those in her circle.

"The bee's knees..."

Comfortable, pleasant, and, as it turned out, concealed; regularly hiding another side of herself separate from the flirtatious drunk induced by alcohol.

"Never knew she had it in her," twice now had the cat-woman triggered the "ferocious dragon" inside the doctor. "Wonder what the result of a third showing would be like...?"

All things considered, they weren't a bad line-up. This "family" of hers.

"Whoa...!" Kokonoe lurched forward, taking in a shaky breath as her eyelids fluttered.

"I must have allergies." Shaking off the conflicting feelings and swallowing a lump, she sat straight and reached over across her station to take hold of the curved yellow-skinned fruit left behind by Litchi, and started to peel it.

She gagged.

"This is awful," simply touching the tip of it to her lips made her want to vomit. "How can anyone eat this crap?" Goosebumps raced across her flesh, and the fur on her tails puffed and stuck out like needles.

Nettled, she jumped out of her chair and started pacing all over the room, trying to work up the nerve.

"Family... _family_..." she repeated lowly, glancing at a frame containing a photo of herself, unwillingly, grouped together with the aforementioned and a hefty number of invasive feline extras.

_Just get it over with you damn pussy_. She slowly bit off the tip of the banana.

"Huugghm! Bleurrgh!" And immediately spat it out. "Screw this."

Litchi had insisted that she eat a banana every so often, but never specified _how_.

"This should be an easy compromise," remarked the hybrid, having received an order from a trendy street-style snack store, largely defeating the purpose of her agreeing to cutback and make changes.

"She can't honestly expect me to give up on sweets and treats entirely?" she questioned, disbelieving. "That's just ridiculous."

But understandable. There was a reason why Litchi had gotten wildly heated; why she was admonitory about her remiss behaviour, perturbed by how increasingly invested she'd grown into her work over time, not knowing when to pause, and why she quietly beseeched the cat-woman to make a change with intense yet vividly pained eyes before leaving. It was because she had known someone – they both had – who'd gradually grown isolated and put less and less value into their own well-being overtime, too work-obsessed with tunnel-vision to realize their own life dwindling to a trickle, scarcely holding on... before sickness took them.

"Figures." Obviously her prioritizing of work with little regard for anything (mainly pertaining to herself) began to parallel the direful lifestyle of the unassuming deceased by the day, dredging up a dark time in medic's life she feared experiencing again.

Kokonoe sighed, pushing back her bangs, tired.

"I've practically been living here as of late," she noted, eyes drifting towards a futon and bedding unceremoniously dumped over in a random spot of the room. "Haven't been 'home' in quite some time." She shook her head in discontent, annoyed at herself. "I really need to get out of here and take some time off."

The cat-woman stretched with her arms up. As she brought them down, she remembered she still had the peeled fruit in one hand.

She twisted her face, at odds with herself. "My mind's telling 'no'..." she moaned deeply, biting her lip. "But my body's telling me '_yes_'."

She stuffed the banana into her chocolate-glazed, ice cream waffle sandwich and quickly took a large bite. Evidently...

"Mmm!" it got a pass. "No' ba'."

Piece by piece, Kokonoe consumed the sweet and creamy sandwich. She'd happily make an early start on taking a much needed break from work and catching up on rest (that'd be the quickest way avoid having Litchi have another fit over her arduously long working hours and potentially cry over her), but laying off the "junk"?

_A work in progress_. It shouldn't be hard to get away with eating one of your 5-a-day like so for the meantime, she reckoned.

"Excuse me, Professor, but I forgot to–"

...

Kokonoe stopped mid-bite, her animal instincts alerting her of the present danger.

"Kokonooooooeeeeee~" the bespectacled bombshell sung her name with an adoring smile on her face, "let's have a wee chat. Hmm?"

A shiver ran down her spine to the tip of her tails. _S-Shit...!_

The scariest thing for Kokonoe wasn't that she had been caught, but rather, how the medic's perky and delightful demeanour contradicted the dark and intimidating air that surrounded her, long and supple in movement.

_**Crik!**_

_Shit, shit, shit!_ Heavy pressure grappled her as the woman approached with smooth and gentle steps. Her ears flattened, and Kokonoe started to shrink and curl up, feeling smaller and smaller before the black-haired beauty who looked significantly more grandiose the closer she got.

"U-Um..." if Kokonoe had any single regret within the numerous opportunities that transpired from when the Asian first left... it's that she didn't seal the damn door. "_Meoowww_...?"

...

There was a pregnant pause as the two stared long at each other.

After the moment of silence, Litchi started to giggle, her sound melodious.

Then Kokonoe, nervously, started to chuckle.

Then the two laughed heartily together.

"Oh, sweetie..." Litchi wiped away a tear, and, having never lost her smile, gave the pink-haired hybrid a _look_. "_No_."

Kokonoe gulped down a thick lump. She was about to experience that "third showing" sooner than expected.

* * *

**Fin**

* * *

_**Mugen7:** I'll leave y'all with this__; _** watch?v=LCwTn-HrfBw** _(by _**FurySevenSix**_. Link works best through phone)._


End file.
